Thanks to everyone for their patience… We finally have internet service – a little sketchy but something is better than nothing. I thought I’d go back in time and tell a bit about our adventures from the beginning.
Our journey to Saratov began on a snowy February day. PA was still digging out from a major snowstorm and we were headed to Washington Dulles airport. We left very early anticipating that some of the roads might be drifted. We had a lot of difficulty even getting to the airport – highways were closed and detours were not marked. We finally arrived and went to check in…
Checking in was interesting…The representative at the desk looked at our passports/visas/return tickets and immediately noticed that our visas expired before we were scheduled to return. We told her that we were planning to extend our visas once we were in country. Apparently that was not good enough. She confiscated all four of our passports and informed us that she would need to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor called the Russian Embassy and we waited and waited. She finally returned and told us that we would be allowed to board the plane but that they might send us right back once we arrived in Moscow! Not good news. Ken contacted the Fulbright office who encouraged us to board the plane and promised to inform the Russian Fulbright office of our difficulties. By the time we grabbed some Subway to go and made it to our gate they were getting ready to board the plane. We had no time to spare!
I have not seen such an empty plane in years. I guess there aren’t very many people interested in flying to Russia in February! The flight was long (10 hours), but the kids were fantastic! We were served dinner and breakfast and were able to watch some movies. We encouraged them to sleep but all of us had difficulty getting good sleep. We arrived in Moscow around 10:00 AM (Moscow time) on Feb. 13. Our driver, arranged by the Fulbright office was there to meet us and we had no difficulties going through migration and customs. The driver took us from the airport to the train station. As we were driving we heard “It’s Raining Men” on the radio - just a little bit of home!
The train station was an adventure. The driver found some porters to help us get our luggage (7 large suitcases and 4 carry on bags) from the van to the waiting area. The waiting area was on the second floor with no elevators. We’re fairly certain we overpaid the porters but when we don’t speak the language and the porters are intoxicated we decided it was best to not quibble. Thus began our 5 hour wait in the train station. We started off with the kids and I standing guard with our luggage and Ken went exploring…Where are the bathrooms? Where can we get some food? Where will our train be? Well, Ken found the bathrooms (we got to pay 20 Rubles each for the privilege of using a Russian “squatty potty” – poor Katie, she was a trooper but she only went once!), Ken found s
ome food – the Russian equivalent of a hot dog), and Ken mostly figured out the train system. While we were waiting we were befriended by a Russian babushka (pictured on the left). She asked me to watch her belongings while she used the bathroom. When she returned we attempted to ask her about the train to verify that we knew what we were doing. She, of course, spoke no English, but through our very basic Russian, sign language and Pictionary, we were able to make some sense of the train station! She also corralled a student on his way to Saratov to help us! Our train arrived and our over-eager porters returned. Again, we over-paid, but it was a small price to pay to guarantee getting to our train on time!
Our journey to Saratov began on a snowy February day. PA was still digging out from a major snowstorm and we were headed to Washington Dulles airport. We left very early anticipating that some of the roads might be drifted. We had a lot of difficulty even getting to the airport – highways were closed and detours were not marked. We finally arrived and went to check in…
Checking in was interesting…The representative at the desk looked at our passports/visas/return tickets and immediately noticed that our visas expired before we were scheduled to return. We told her that we were planning to extend our visas once we were in country. Apparently that was not good enough. She confiscated all four of our passports and informed us that she would need to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor called the Russian Embassy and we waited and waited. She finally returned and told us that we would be allowed to board the plane but that they might send us right back once we arrived in Moscow! Not good news. Ken contacted the Fulbright office who encouraged us to board the plane and promised to inform the Russian Fulbright office of our difficulties. By the time we grabbed some Subway to go and made it to our gate they were getting ready to board the plane. We had no time to spare!
I have not seen such an empty plane in years. I guess there aren’t very many people interested in flying to Russia in February! The flight was long (10 hours), but the kids were fantastic! We were served dinner and breakfast and were able to watch some movies. We encouraged them to sleep but all of us had difficulty getting good sleep. We arrived in Moscow around 10:00 AM (Moscow time) on Feb. 13. Our driver, arranged by the Fulbright office was there to meet us and we had no difficulties going through migration and customs. The driver took us from the airport to the train station. As we were driving we heard “It’s Raining Men” on the radio - just a little bit of home!
The train station was an adventure. The driver found some porters to help us get our luggage (7 large suitcases and 4 carry on bags) from the van to the waiting area. The waiting area was on the second floor with no elevators. We’re fairly certain we overpaid the porters but when we don’t speak the language and the porters are intoxicated we decided it was best to not quibble. Thus began our 5 hour wait in the train station. We started off with the kids and I standing guard with our luggage and Ken went exploring…Where are the bathrooms? Where can we get some food? Where will our train be? Well, Ken found the bathrooms (we got to pay 20 Rubles each for the privilege of using a Russian “squatty potty” – poor Katie, she was a trooper but she only went once!), Ken found s
ome food – the Russian equivalent of a hot dog), and Ken mostly figured out the train system. While we were waiting we were befriended by a Russian babushka (pictured on the left). She asked me to watch her belongings while she used the bathroom. When she returned we attempted to ask her about the train to verify that we knew what we were doing. She, of course, spoke no English, but through our very basic Russian, sign language and Pictionary, we were able to make some sense of the train station! She also corralled a student on his way to Saratov to help us! Our train arrived and our over-eager porters returned. Again, we over-paid, but it was a small price to pay to guarantee getting to our train on time! We stuffed our luggage into our train compartment and were thankful that everything fit. The trains were an experience! We were prepared for the cold Russian winter but not prepared for the stifling trains! They were extremely warm. We were all exhausted but thought we would get something to eat first. We finally communicated that we would like their recommendation and they said (we thought) “Fish sticks for the children.” We enthusiastically said, “Yes, Yes.” Our meal came and there were no fish sticks in sight. We were puzzled but ate our meal (the kids had a ball of meat with a sunny-side up egg on top and Ken and I had some kind of boiled beef.) Much later we realized that what we actually received for the kids were Russian Bifshteks – a Russian hamburger with a fried egg on top!
After eating we were all exhausted and decided that it was time for bed. The train was an overnight train from Moscow-Saratov (a fifteen hour ride). The kids eagerly hopped on the top bunks, Ken and I took the bottom and we settled in for the night around 8pm. Sleeping was difficult because of the heat and the frequent stops and starts of the train. At 11pm, Dylan was up and ready to read a little. We told him that it was still time to sleep and he tried to settle back down. A while later, Dylan cried out, “I just want to die.” He cried for a few moments, in a pathetic and heartbreaking way. We did our best to encourage him, but later Ken and I both admitted to feeling rather low at that moment o
urselves. Morning finally came and with morning the end was in sight. We all took one last trip to the bathroom (we were amazed to discover that the toilets flushed right out onto the tracks!) and we gathered our luggage. Our train pulled into the station and before we were off the train Natalia (our host) had pushed her way onto the train to find us. She was like an angel! She grabbed the kids and got them off of the train while Ken and I finished up with the luggage. A short car ride later and we were at our flat!Thanks for hanging in through the telling of our travels. I’ll write more in the coming days of what we have been doing and seeing. The good news is that we are feeling settled and are learning our way around town. We have some favorite stands at the market, have fallen in love with Russian bakeries, and have been having a chance to have some fun together as a family!
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